Photo by @nelsonmakamo Through his charcoal portraits, South African artist Nelson Makamo (@nelsonmakamo) works to change negative perceptions of African children. “How do you stop the judgment of a child?” says Nelson, who was born in 1982, 12 years before the end of apartheid. “I started adding glasses to some portraits, and just by doing that, it completely changes how someone looks at the painting. They won’t look at that child in terms of a portrait of a child from Africa. A lot of people start seeing a reflection of themselves. That is what art is there for: to show how common we all are.” Today is #MandelaDay, a celebration of the 100th birthday of the late Nelson Mandela, an anti-apartheid leader and former president of South Africa. “Today, we are what we are because of his legacy,” says Nelson. “When I see people responding to my work, the person that comes to mind is Nelson Mandela. He fought for us to have moments like this where we share ideas. If one man can create a legacy that unites the world, we need to make sure that legacy lives on.”